Pillar

"pillar." This word appears 22 times and only once outside Ezek. 40-41: "And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel [pillar] and side posts were a fifth part of the wall" (1Kings 6:31).

"pillar; monument; sacred stone." This word is derived from the verb nas?ab, and it is found about 35 times. This word refers to a "pillar" as a personal memorial in 2Sa 18:18: "Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar…and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place." In Gen 28:18 the "monument" is a memorial of the Lord's appearance. Mas?s?ebâ is used in connection with the altar built by Moses in Exod 24:4, and it refers to "sacred stones or pillars."

"a column supporting the weight of a building," is used (a) metaphorically, of those who bear responsibility in the churches, as of the elders in the church at Jerusalem, Gal 2:9; of a local church as to its responsibility, in a collective capacity, to maintain the doctrines of the faith by teaching and practice, 1Ti 3:15; some would attach this and the next words to the statement in 1Ti 3:16; the connection in the Eng. versions seems preferable; (b) figuratively in Rev 3:12, indicating a firm and permanent position in the spiritual, heavenly and eternal Temple of God; (c) illustratively, of the feet of the angel in the vision in Rev 10:1, seen as flames rising like columns of fire indicative of holiness and consuming power, and thus reflecting the glory of Christ as depicted in Rev 1:15; cp. Eze 1:7.